Amid Trouble, Washington Schools Survive and Sometimes Even Excel

This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996.
To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them.

Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems.
Please send reports of such problems to archive_feedback@nytimes.com.

When Bill and Hillary Clinton decided to send their daughter, Chelsea, to a private school in Washington instead of a public one, many people accused them of hypocrisy. But few challenged the general perception of the District of Columbia public schools as bleak and dangerous places, all but bereft of academic quality and learning.

There is considerable evidence, however, that the image is false -- that while the public schools here are hardly free of problems, they are doing far better than many other urban school systems by a variety of measures, including standardized test scores and crime and dropout rates. And while some schools are troubled, others are pockets of excellence and genuine pride.

"No one in the system is happy about where it is," said Michael Casserly, interim executive director of the Council of Great City Schools, a group that represents 49 large districts. "But people are happy about where the system is headed." Tougher Measures

Educators here cite tougher discipline, increased security measures like metal detectors in some schools and aggressive campaigns to involve parents in their children's education. Classes are offered to help students resolve differences with classmates through discussion rather through weapons, and anti-drug programs have been started in most schools.

The Hine Middle School, near the Capitol, is typical of the city's slow and sometimes uneven turnaround. Disparaged a decade ago as "Horrible Hine" because of its anemic student achievement and attendance, the school has stabilized test scores and attendance by emphasizing discipline and parental involvement.

"The district is at a crossroads," said Princess D. Whitfield, the principal at Hine for 10 years. "We aren't as bad as people make us out to be. But we do have to improve."

A few miles away, the Malcolm X Elementary School is graffiti-free and orderly. Inside, for the first time this year, after-school tutoring sessions are offered to bolster students' math and science skills.

John Aimone, a science teacher, instructs six third and fourth graders about the area and circumference of shapes. They fill in triangles and other shapes on work sheets using bright green blocks. Then they calculate the area or circumference with help from Mr. Aimone, who helps them count out the blocks in a loud, strong voice.

"Wonderful! Fantastic!" he exclaims, congratulating one girl after she figures the area of a triangle. Then everyone gets graham crackers and milk. Lawmaker Supports Schools

At Woodrow Wilson High School in Northwest Washington, students can take classes at American University to supplement their course work. "There's not a perfect school for anyone," said Jonathan Butler, a 17-year-old junior who takes history at the university. Jonathan was considering the Sidwell Friends School -- where the Clintons decided to send Chelsea -- but as he put it: "I felt I could get a better education here. I don't think I've been shortchanged at all."

In January, a lesser-known politician new to the capital -- Representative Jay Inslee, Democrat of Washington State -- faced a choice similar to the Clintons'. But Mr. Inslee and his wife, Trudi, enrolled two of their three sons in the public schools. (The third, who has a learning disability, attends a private school in Boston.)

"I've always been a public school advocate," Mr. Inslee said. "We've been pleased with the schools' efforts and think it's good for our sons to experience the diversity of this system."

School Officials say they need more boosters like the Inslees. But they do not underestimate their problems. Increasing Diversity

Like many other urban school systems, Washington's has a rapidly changing mix of students who need different teaching methods and more special programs, all of which cost money. Over five years, the number of children whose first language is not English has swelled to 8,623 in the 1991-92 school year (out of 80,937 students over all) from 4,452 in 1987-88. The enrollment of homeless children has also climbed to about 4,000 this year, from 1,000 five years ago.

Still, the achievement statistics are generally encouraging. The annual high school dropout rate is 9 percent, for instance, as against 16 percent in Los Angeles and 13 percent in Chicago, according to a 1992 study by the Council of Great City Schools.

On standardized reading tests, 40 percent of Washington students score above the national norm, compared with 39 percent of all students in the Milwaukee public schools and 35 percent in Denver. And nearly 64 percent of all Washington public school graduates enroll in four-year colleges, compared with 41 percent in Minneapolis and 11 percent in Detroit.

"We live in a glass house," said Franklin L. Smith, who has been Superintendent of Schools for almost two years. "We are doing some good things here, but we're castigated for everything that we aren't doing."

That effort has been made more difficult by budgets that have remained level for the last two years at $513 million, which comes from local property taxes, sales taxes and the Federal Government. It is not expected to grow next year, either. Much Criticism

Last fall, the district embarked on a much-criticized overhaul that calls for stronger curriculums and teacher raises financed with school closings or consolidations and nearly 1,000 layoffs from its 14,000 work force.

Another centerpiece of the plan is school-based management, which gives the administration, teachers and parents of individual schools more control of curriculum, budget and other operations. The approach has been adopted in Chicago and other cities, most recently in Los Angeles, with uneven results.

But school closings have touched off a furor even though are expected to save up to $10 million a year. The district is one of the few in the nation where virtually all students attend school in their neighborhoods.

By closing as many 14 of the district's 176 schools, parents argue that the neighborhood schools concept would be upset, an assertion the administration strongly denies. But in a display of emotion that encapsulates local rage, 500 parents, students and alumni of Cardozo High School, one of schools considered for closing or consolidation, railed against the proposal at a recent hearing at the school.

"This school has given our children a sense of belonging and purpose," said a woman whose two sons attend the white-columned, red-brick school, as others in the auditorium cheered. "You can't close it." 'Going to Be Attacked'

Mr. Smith, the Superintendent, sighed quietly when asked about the widespread opposition to change.

"I'm going to be attacked, and that's part of the territory," he said. "But we have too many schools. You can walk to the back of one school and see the front of another."

Ultimately, the biggest hurdle facing the district is one of image: that they are unsafe and poorly managed. It is still bruised from a 1991 audit by the American Association of School Administrators that found the schools unstable and mismanaged. The audit, conducted at Mr. Smith's request, coupled with another critical study by the D.C. Committee on Public Education, a group of civic leaders and parents, undermined a move to increase money for the district.

The district did not do itself any favors when it furloughed teachers earlier this year to save money even as the administration considered building a new central office; it has since retreated from that idea.

"We lack credibility," Mr. Smith conceded. "But we can improve, and that's the start to improving the perception."

A version of this article appears in print on March 31, 1993, on Page B00008 of the National edition with the headline: Amid Trouble, Washington Schools Survive and Sometimes Even Excel. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe